Joe Baldus throws no-hitter in victory over Burnsville
Other coaches might shy away from comparing their current teams with the best teams they’ve ever worked with, but not Farmington’s Jon Graff.
The Tiger baseball team’s 4-0 start is evoking comparisons to Farmington’s 2021 state Class 4A champions and 2022 runners-up. Some of them are coming from Graff, the head coach.
“We talked about it down in Florida when we broke camp (during spring break) that with the squad we have here, conference championship and section championship should be two things we’re shooting for,” Graff said. “In all honesty, this might be an even deeper team than the ’21 and ’22 teams that went to state.
“I told the guys (last week) we could have players that end up being all-conference but had to take their turn sitting on the bench because we’ve got 11 guys we’d like to bat every day if we could. Every game we’ve been rotating who sat and who was the DH, because that’s how many guys we have that can play.”
Farmington and Prior Lake were tied for first in the South Suburban Conference after the Tigers defeated Apple Valley 14-4 on Monday (Prior Lake kept pace with an 8-4 victory over Burnsville). Farmington started its season with a 9-8, eight-inning victory over defending Class 4A, Section 1 champion Lakeville South on April 10, followed by a 9-2 victory over Eastview, where the Tigers broke a 2-2 tie by scoring seven runs in the sixth inning.
The highlight to date was a 6-0 victory over Burnsville on April 12, when junior right-hander Joe Baldus – who came into the season as the Tigers’ No. 3 starting pitcher – threw a no-hitter.
Baldus struck out 11 batters and walked two, and needed just 89 pitches. Farmington committed an error in the fourth inning, the only inning where the Blaze got a runner as far as second base.
“I’ve coached in the district 27 years and been the head coach 10 or 11 years, and that’s the first no-hitter I can remember,” Graff said. “That was pretty impressive.
“He spotted his fastball really well and his breaking ball was moving. His pitch count wasn’t that high, even though he was going for a complete game and no-hitter.”
Tigers shortstop Brandon Lund was 2-for-3 with one run batted in. Third baseman Kelin Rasmussen was 2-for-3 with one run scored.
Lakeville South took an 8-0 lead in the second inning of its April 10 game at Farmington. The Tigers rallied to tie the game by the bottom of the fourth and it remained 8-8 until Lund doubled in the winning run in the eighth.
Lund also pitched the final six innings, holding South to three hits, striking out six and getting the victory. He was 2-for-2 at the plate, driving in four runs and scoring once. Dalton Kesti was 3-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. Dillon Carlson, Josh Berreth and Marshall Gordan had two hits each.
Carlson and Rasmussen had two-run singles in the Tigers’ big sixth inning against Eastview. Ethan Bombardier pitched the first five innings, while Carlson pitched the last two to pick up the victory.
Tanner Renzy was 4-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs in Farmington’s victory over Apple Valley on Monday. Rasmussen was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs. Carter Giesen pitched the first 5 2/3 innings, striking out 10.
Joe O’Brien hit a two-run, inside-the-park home run in the second inning for Apple Valley (1-3).
Farmington has 14 seniors on its roster and 12 players returning with varsity experience. The challenge for the Tigers’ coaches will be giving everybody the playing time they need.
“Fortunately, we have a lot of guys who are versatile and can play multiple spots,” Graff said. “We plan on moving guys around. When we get toward the end, if we see guys who are really running with it, we’ll try to ride the hot hand and go with more of a set lineup. But we have confidence in anybody we put out there.
Baseball highlights
• Eastview defeated Lakeville South 6-2 on Monday, improving to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in the conference. Lakeville South is 2-2 in the SSC.
Charlie Riedl drove in three runs with a single and sacrifice fly, and pitched the final two innings. Winning pitcher Eli Judson allowed seven hits and two runs in the first five innings. Carson Walker and Kash Bodden each had two hits for Lakeville South, and Caeden Bril drove in two runs.
• Lakeville North had just one hit but defeated Eagan 3-1 on Monday. The Panthers (2-3 overall, 2-2 SSC) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning without a hit. Their only hit was a solo homer by Cal Schmelzle in the fifth inning. Schmelzle also pitched a complete game, allowing three hits and striking out 10.
Eagan dropped to 0-4.
• Burnsville is 3-2 overall after an 8-4, eight-inning loss to Prior Lake on Monday. The Blaze led 4-3 entering the seventh inning, but Prior Lake scored once in the seventh and added four more in the eighth. Burnsville took the lead in the sixth inning, scoring three runs. The big hits were John Santelman’s two-run homer and Noah Lindsey’s run-scoring triple.
• Shakopee defeated Rosemount 6-2 on Monday, dropping the Irish to 0-4. Shortstop Zach Duchescherer had two of the Irish’s seven hits. A two-run triple by Ty Hansen in the third inning drove in both Rosemount runs.
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